It is well known to oenologists and connoisseurs that the quality of wine remaining in a container after partially dispensing of the contents of the container has a tendency to rapidly deteriorate in quality. This process of deterioration is frequently referred to casually as oxidation but it appears to be a relatively complex phenomenon involving the rapid alteration of the various critical elements which contribute to the wine quality including, but not limited to, the taste of the wine, the bouquet and the various other constituent elements of the wine which constitute the melange of desirable qualities of the wine.
Attempts have been made to preserve the quality of the wine by capping, corking or otherwise closing the pouring opening of the container from which the wine has been previously dispensed. But such attempts are in vain since the air retained in the container above the remaining wine permits the deterioration process to continue.
The use of various types of gases in the food packing art is well known to those skilled in the art as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 586,632, 1,263,278, 2,204,833, 2,333,898, 2,705,578, 2,758,766, 3,212,537, 3,804,133, and 3,837,137.
However, these patents are directed to the pressurization of the open upper portion of a filled container and are not directed to the particular problem confronted by the device and method of the present application.